historical  Sketch 

wT”  1  | '» WS  t  £-'~  jC*--  1  .1C  j  Jk.*':  *T  .* ■■'%;•  •)'  '.  V  f  f 

of  tbe 

XiXIlork  of  Jforexon  /fissions 

of  tbe 

IRefovmeb  Church 

in  tbe  Xflmteb  States. 

Qattervd&r  S/^{, 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH 


op  THE 


WofIs  of  foreign  Jfli||ion 


OF  THB 


By  PxEV.  S.  n,  ©ALiLiENDEI^,  D.  D., 

Secretary  of  the  Board  oe  Commissioners  for  P'oreign 
Missions  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  the 
United  States. 


Published  by  Direction  of  tt\e  Board. 


PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 
REFORMED  PUBLICATION  HOUSE. 
907  ARCH  STREET. 


TOHOKTJ  GAKUIN,  SENDAI,  JAPAN. 


^ork  of  'Foreign  HSissions 

OF  THE 

Informed  (Jfyurcl?  in  tl7e  United  States. 


The  Early  Struggles  of  Our  Church. 

OR  well  nigh  half  a  century,  after  the  Re¬ 
formed  Church  in  the  United  States  assumed, 
in  1793,  the  power  of  self-government,  it  was 
in  a  state  of  preparation — of  training  for  the 
work  which  in  His  providence  God  had  com¬ 
mitted  to  its  hands.  What  with  a  membership  widely 
scattered  over  several  states  ;  with  a  totally  inadequate 
force  of  ministers,  and  without  the  means,  in  the  form 
of  educational  institutions  to  supply  this  want,  it  en¬ 
grossed  its  attention  and  exhausted  every  resource  at 
its  command,  to  provide  as  best  it  could  for  its  impera¬ 
tive  necessities  and  save  it  from  loss  and  disintegra¬ 
tion.  The  necessity  of  the  establishment  of  institu¬ 
tions  for  the  rearing  of  a  sufficient  and  competent  min¬ 
istry  was  early  perceived  and  appreciated,  but  the 
means  were  not  available.  It  was  not  until  after  the 
failure  of  .several  attempts  that  at  length  in  1825  an 
arrangement  was  affected  with  the  authorities  of  Dick¬ 
inson  College,  Carlisle,  Pa.,  by  which  it  was  hoped  to 
meet  the  emergency,  but  this  too  proved  ineffectual. 
Another  effort  was  made  to  establish  the  necessary  in¬ 
stitutions  of  learning  at  York,  Pa.,  where  the  Semi¬ 
nary,  having  failed  at  Carlisle,  was  reorganized.  This 


4 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


proved  to  be  more  promising.  It  continued  in  partially 
successful  operation  until  1837,  furnishing  thirty-five 
persons  to  the  ranks  of  the  ministry.  In  consequence 
of  the  want  of  academic  training  on  the  part  of  most  of 
the  students,  the  professors  had  been  under  the  neces¬ 
sity  of  imparting  instruction  in  the  classical  branches. 
Hence  arose  the  necessity  of  establishing  a  college. 
This  was  realized  at  length  by  the  founding  of  Mar¬ 
shall  College  in  Mercersburg,  Pa.,  in  1835,  and  two 
years  after  the  Seminary  was  moved  there  from  York. 


Election  of  ths  First  Board  of  Foreign  Missions. 


No  sooner  did  the  question  of  providing  an  adequate 
ministry  reach  a  hopeful  solution  than  the  Church  felt 
that  it  was  prepared  to  give  a  more  attentive  ear  to  the 
voice  of  the  Master,  commanding,  “  Go  ye  into  all  the 
world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.”  At 
the  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  the  United  States  in  1838, 
in  Lancaster,  Pa.,  the  Board  of  Home  Missions  in  its 
report,  suggested  the  organization  of  a  Foreign  Board. 
The  suggestion  was  received  with  favor  and  a  Foreign 
Board  was  elected,  consisting  of  the  following  persons: 


Rev.  Diedric-h  Wirrers, 

Rev.  Bernard  C.  Worff, 

Rev.  Samuer  Guterius, 

Rev.  Samuer  R.  Fisher, 

Elder  Matthew  Shaw, 

Elder  John  D.  Seidenstricker, 


Rev.  Erias  Heiner, 

Rev.  John  Cares, 

Rev.  Joseph  F.  Berg, 
Elder  John  J.  Mayer, 
Elder  Danier  Buckey, 
Elder  BurcherT  Mayer. 


Pledges  and  contributions  to  the  amount  of  $945 
were  made.  The  Church  was  ripe  for  the  work.  The 
Board  was  organized  by  the  election  of  Rev.  Diedrich 
Willers,  President,  and  adopted  a  constitution. 


The  Beginning  of  Its  Work. 

The  first  question  which  commanded  the  attention  of 
the  newly  appointed  and  organized  Board  was  to  seek 
out  laborers  for  some  foreign  field.  Failing  in  this 


Work  of  Foreign  Missions.  5 

search,  with  the  specific  field  of  labor  still  undetermined, 
the  Board  had  its  attention  directed  to  Rev.  Benjamin 
Schneider,  then  a  missionary  in  Broosa,  Asia  Minor, 
under  the  American  Board.  He  was  the  son  of  a  de¬ 
vout  Elder  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  Montgomery 
Co.,  Pa.,  and  was  thus  a  son  of  our  own  Church.  In 
early  life  he  pursued  his  studies  in  the  academy  in 
Norristown,  Pa.,  where  he  connected  himself  with  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  After  completing  his  classical 
studies  at  Amherst  College,  and  his  theological  course 
in  the  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  he  was  commis¬ 
sioned  as  a  missionary  to  Broosa,  Asia  Minor,  by  the 
American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions, 
through  which  Board  the  Presbyterian  Church  was  then 
carrying  on  its  foreign  work.  He  was  ordained  to  the 
Gospel  Ministry  by  the  New  Castle  Presbytery. 

The  thought  occurred  to  our  Board  that  if  Rev. 
Schneider,  with  the  consent  of  his  Presbytery,  would 
transfer  his  membership  to  his  own  mother  church 
that  it  would  be  wise  to  adopt  him  as  its  beneficiary 
and  extend  to  him  its  support.  The  change  in  his 
church  relations  was  accordingly  satisfactorily  effected, 
and  he  was  enrolled  as  a  minister  of  the  then  German 
Reformed  Church,  and  a  member  of  the  Maryland 
Classis,  in  which  connection  he  remained  until  his 
death  in  1877.  As  early  as  1840  the  Reformed  Church 
in  the  United  States  paid  $1,000  into  the  treasury  of 
the  American  Board,  but  the  change  in  Rev.  Dr. 
Schneider’s  Church  relations  did  not  take  place  until 
1845,  from  which  date  until  1865,  the  Church  con¬ 
tributed  to  his  support ;  contributing  in  all  to  the  Cen¬ 
tral  Turkey  Mission  nearly  $28,000. 

Withdrawal  of  Its  Support  From  the  American  Board. 

About  i860  a  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  began  to  mani¬ 
fest  itself  with  the  mode  of  carrying  on  our  foreign 


6 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


work;  we  being  merely  contributors  to  another  organiza¬ 
tion,  without  any  mission  properly  our  own.  Accord¬ 
ingly  in  that  year  our  Synod  inaugurated  a  movement 
to  have  the  mission  at  Aintab,  to  which  place  Rev.  Dr. 
Schneider  had  been  removed,  if  possible  transferred  to 
it,  so  that  it  could  call  it  its  ow?i.  A  lengthy  corre¬ 
spondence  was  carried  on  between  Elder  R.  F.  Kelker, 
the  Treasurer  of  our  Board,  and  Rev.  Rufus  Anderson, 
D.  D.,  Secretary  of  the  American  Board.  The  outcome 
of  the  negotiations  was,  that  such  a  transfer  being 
deemed  inexpedient  by  both  the  American  Board  and 
Rev.  Dr.  Schneider,  the  desire  of  our  Synod  failed  to 
be  realized.  Consequently  in  1865  the  Synod  resolved 
to  establish  a  Mission  of  its  own,  and  to  discontinue  its 
contributions  to  the  American  Board.  The  last  pay¬ 
ment  was  made  October  9,  1865. 

Suspension  of  the  Foreign  Work. 

At  the  time  of  the  discontinuance  of  its  relations  to 
the  American  Board  in  the  work  of  Foreign  Missions, 
the  Church  found  itself  in  the  midst  of  a  most  earnest 
and  heated  theological  controversy.  So  animated  and 
active  had  it  become  as  to  largely  absorb  the  attention 
of  the  whole  Church  and  seriously  to  militate  against 
its  interest  and  activity  in  its  foreign  work.  During 
the  continuance  of  this  contention  but  little  money 
flowed  into  the  Foreign  Mission  treasury.  But  it  did 
not  cease  entirely.  From  time  to  time  the  Treasurer 
received  remittances,  while  interest  accrued  on  vested 
interests.  That  these  funds  might  not  lie  idle  and  fail 
of  their  intended  purpose,  in  1872,  General  Synod, 
which  meanwhile  had  been  organized,  ordered  that 
they  should  be  paid  to  the  German  Evangelical  For¬ 
eign  Missionary  Society.  To  this  Society,  from  1872 
to  1875,  was  paid  $979.81,  which  was  applied  to  the  sup¬ 
port  of  Rev.  Oscar  Eohr  and  his  associate,  Rev.  Jacob 


7 


Work  of  Foreign  Missions. 

Hauser,  both  ministers  of  the  Reformed  Church  who 
were  laboring  in  India,  and  through  whose  ministry 
the  Mission  at  Bisrampore  was  founded. 

In  addition  to  this,  from  December,  1878  to  March 
1886,  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  paid  to  the  Mission 
among  the  Winnebago  Indians  in  Wisconsin,  estab¬ 
lished  under  Sheboygan  Classis  of  the  Synod  of  the 
Northwest,  about  $1500. 

Revival  of  the  Spirit  of  flissions. 

The  effect  of  the  all-absorbing  theological  controversy 
and  the  spirit  of  dissension  abroad  in  the  Church  was 
to  paralyze  its  missionary  energies,  and  this  in  turn 
doomed  the  Board  to  inactivity  and  wrought  more  or 
less  demoralization.  Happily,  in  1873,  the  Board 
aroused  itself  from  its  state  of  apathy,  by  what  might, 
in  some  sort,  be  called  a  reorganization.  This  quicken¬ 
ing  was  realized  at  a  meeting  held  in  Harrisburg,  Pa., 
at  the  residence  of  Elder  R.  F.  Kelker.  The  presence 
at  this  meeting  of  Rev.  Benjamin  Schneider,  D.  D., 
missionary  at  Aintab,  Asia  Minor,  and  Rev.  J.  M. 
Ferris,  D.  D.,  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America, 
had  much  to  do  in  inspiring  the  life  and  energy  mani¬ 
fested.  This  revival  of  the  spirit  of  Foreign  Missions 
seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  premonitory  indications 
of  a  growing  disposition  toward  reconciliation  and  an 
adjustment  of  the  questions  which  for  so  long  had  dis¬ 
turbed  the  peace  of  the  Church,  for  at  the  meeting  of 
General  Synod  in  Lancaster,  Pa.,  1878,  the  Peace 
Movement  was  inaugurated,  and  the  adoption  of  the 
initiative  seemed  immediately,  like  the  pouring  of  oil 
upon  the  waters.  The  spirit  of  contention  seemed  at 
once  to  subside  in  that  body. 

At  this  same  meeting  of  General  Synod  instructions 
were  given  to  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  to  move 


8 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


forward  in  its  work.  And  during  its  session  a  special 
meeting  of  the  Board  convened,  and  instructed  its 
President,  Rev.  David  Van  Horne.  D.  D.,  to  obtain 
information  as  to  the  expediency  and  propriety  of  es¬ 
tablishing  a  mission  either  in  China  or  Japan. 

The  Election  of  the  First  Missionary. 

No  time  was  lost  in  making  the  necessary  inquiry. 
Japan  was  determined  upon  as  the  field.  And  it  was 
as  early  as  the  30th  of  the  following  September  that  the 
first  missionary  to  Japan  was  appointed.  Four  appli¬ 
cations  were  presented  to  the  Board  for  the  appoint¬ 
ment.  The  choice  fell  upon  Rev.  Ambrose  D.  Gring. 

Rev.  A.  D.  Gring  was  born  December  8,  1849.  His 
father,  Rev.  Daniel  Gring,  was  a  minister  of  our  Re¬ 
formed  Church.  He  pursued  his  collegiate  course  to 
graduation  in  Franklin  and  Marshall  College,  Lancaster, 
Pa.,  and  his  theological  course  in  Yale  Theological  Sem¬ 
inary.  He  sailed  for  Japan  in  company  with  his  wife, 
Mrs.  Hattie  L.  Gring,  nee  McLean,  in  May,  1879,  and 
reached  Yokohama,  Japan,  June  1,  1879.  In  this  city 
he  spent  the  first  year  of  his  residence  in  Japan,  devot¬ 
ing  himself  to  the  study  of  the  language. 

In  selecting  a  location  for  the  Mission  about  to  be 
established,  the  choice  fell  upon  the  capitol  city,  Tokyo. 
On  the  26th  of  April,  1880,  the  Board  purchased  in  this 
city  a  residence,  28  Tsukiji,  for  $3,955. 50,  which,  after 
needed  repairs,  was  taken  possession  of  by  the  mission¬ 
ary  the  following  June. 

At  the  instance  of  Missionary  Gring,  while  learning 
the  language,  his  personal  teacher,  aided  by  the  per¬ 
sonal  teacher  of  Rev.  Dr.  Verbeck,  of  the  Reformed 
Church  in  America,  translated  the  Heidelberg  Cate¬ 
chism  from  the  book  language,  into  which  it  had  been 
translated  some  time  previously,  mainly  by  a  Presby¬ 
terian,  into  the  colloquium,  or  spoken  language.  This 


9 


Work  of  Foreign  Missions. 

translation  was  published  by  our  Board.  He  also  had 
prepared  an  eclectic  dictionary,  Japanese  and  English, 
which  he  subsequently  published  as  a  personal  enter¬ 
prise.  It  was  not  until  May  n,  1884,  that  any  consid¬ 
erable  fruit  of  evangelistic  work  appeared,  when  a  congre¬ 
gation  was  organized  at  Nihon  Bashi,  in  the  Mission 
school  building,  purchased  through  the  liberality  of 
Elder  Benjamin  Kuhns,  Dayton,  Ohio.  This  congre¬ 
gation  is  still  in  existence,  but  it  never  has  attained 
strength  and  enlarged  growth.  Recently,  however,  its 
prospects  are  more  encouraging.  An  elderly  and  some¬ 
what  inefficient  native  pastor  has  been  succeeded  by  one 
of  the  graduates  of  our  Tohoku  Gakuin,  Mr.  Hiodaya 
Shimanuki,  a  former  beneficiary  of  Elder  R.  F.  Kel- 
ker’s  Bible  Class,  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  who  enters  upon  the 
charge  of  this  congregation  with  Christian  zeal  and 
youthful  ardor. 

After  a  sojourn  of  eight  years  in  Japan,  in  conse¬ 
quence  of  the  impaired  health  of  Rev.  Gring  and  his 
wife,  a  furlough  was  granted  him,  and  he  and  his 
fnmily  returned  to  America,  landing  at  San  Francisco, 
Cal.,  in  May,  1887.  After  his  return  he  continued  in 
the  service  of  the  Board,  visiting  the  churches  in  the 
interest  of  our  foreign  work,  until  April  25,  1889,  when 
he  presented  his  resignation  as  a  missionary,  to  take 
effect  May  1,  1889.  His  resignation  was  accepted  by  the 
Board,  and  his  relation  to  it  accordingly  came  to  an  end. 

The  Second  JTissionary — Rev.  J.  P.  floore,  D.  D. 

After  the  selection  of  Tokyo  as  the  location  of  the 
Mission,  in  1880,  the  Board  felt  that  it  could  not  safely 
risk  its  success  upon  the  contingency  of  the  health  and 
life  of  one  man,  and  that  to  guard  against  interruption 
and  make  the  work  effective  and  continuous  it  would 
be  prudent  to  reinforce  the  Mission  at  an  early  day  by 
sending  out  another  missionary.  Accordingly  the 


10 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


Board  sought  the 
counsel  of  General 
Synod  at  its  meeting 
in  the  city  of  Tiffin, 
Ohio,  in  1881,  and  by 
it  was  authorized  to 
appoint  another  mis¬ 
sionary  as  soon  as 
might  be  expedient. 

Acting  under  this 
instruction,  on  March 
13,  1883,  the  Board  ap¬ 
pointed  and  commis¬ 
sioned  Rev.  Jairus  P. 
Moore.  He  was  born 
November  27,  1847,  i11 
Bucks  county,  Pa.  He 
graduated  in  Franklin 
and  Marshall  College, 
Lancaster,  Pa.,  and  in 
the  Theological  Semi¬ 
nary  at  Tiffin,  Ohio.  He  had  an  experience  of  six 
years  in  teaching  and  five  years  of  active  work  in  the 
ministry.  His  wife  was  Miss  Anna  M.  Arnold,  Tan- 
caster,  Pa. 

Rev.  Moore  and  wife  sailed  for  Japan  in  September, 
1883,  and  arrived  October  1,  1883.  He  at  once  pro¬ 
ceeded  to  Tokyo,  and  commenced  acquiring  the  lan¬ 
guage.  Unwilling  to  postpone  his  efforts  to  win  souls 
to  Christ  until  he  should  gain  the  mastery  of  the  lan¬ 
guage,  he  hastened  to  avail  himself  of  the  ministry  of 
his  native  teacher  and  interpreter,  and  established  a 
Bible  class  in  his  own  house,  and  succeeded  in  securing 
the  attendance  of  a  number  of  male  scholars. 

Similarly,  Mrs.  Moore  established  a  Bible  class  for 
girls  and  women.  One  of  the  scholars  in  this  latter 


11 


Work  of  Foreign  Missions. 

was  a  married  lady,  of  the  upper  class  of  society,  by 
the  name  of  Mrs.  Nakashima.  The  lady  manifested  a 
deep  interest  in  the  instructions  imparted  by  Mrs. 
Moore.  One  day  she  inquired  of  her  teacher  whether 
she  would  object  to  having  her  husband  accompany 
her  to  the  class  ?  Mrs.  Moore  assured  her  that  it 
would  afford  her  great  pleasure  to  have  Mr.  Nakashima 
accompany  her,  and  that  it  would  be  an  equal  pleasure 
to  Mr.  Moore  to  make  his  acquaintance.  Thus  were 
the  two  men  brought  together  and  an  intimate  ac¬ 
quaintance  was  gradually  formed.  Rev.  Moore  early 
discovered  that  his  new  acquaintance  was  a  man  of 
education;  that  he  stood  high  as  a  statesman  and 
political  leader.  His  wife  had  occupied  a  place  of 
honor  in  the  palace  of  the  Emperor.  Mr.  Naskashima 
had  made  some  progress  in  acquiring  the  English  lan¬ 
guage,  and  was  reading  English  authors  on  political 
science  and  jurisprudence,  but  the  want  of  a  more  thor¬ 
ough  mastery  of  the 
language  was  the  oc¬ 
casion  of  considerable 
difficulty  in  his  grasp¬ 
ing  the  full  meaning 
of  the  author.  At  his 
request  Rev.  Moore 
freely  consented  to 
render  him  the  assist¬ 
ance  he  needed.  This 
led  to  frequent  and  free 
meetings,  when  Mr. 

Nakashima,  with  the 
difficult  passages  in 
the  book,  marked  with 
small  pieces  of  red 
paper,  would  seek  the 
desired  explanation. 


MRS.  J.  P.  MOORE. 


12 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


In  the  course  of  their  conversations  Rev.  Moore  learned 
that  his  friend  had  read  some  in  the  Bible  and  was 
somewhat  interested  in  its  teachings.  He  accordingly 
mentioned  that  he  met  a  class  for  Bible  study,  on  a  cer¬ 
tain  day  in  the  week,  in  his  study,  and  said,  that  if  it  was 
in  accord  with  his  pleasure,  he  would  be  glad  to  have  him 
attend.  The  invitation  was  accepted,  and  Mr.  Naka- 
shima  became  a  deeply  interested  and  earnest  enquirer 
after  the  truth.  Mrs.  Nakashima  continued  her  studies 
under  the  instruction  of  Mrs.  Moore,  and  her  husband 
under  Rev.  Moore,  until  by  the  grace  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  their  eyes  were  opened,  and  they  in  humble  faith 
accepted  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Savior.  It  was  Rev. 
Moore’s  delightful  privilege  to  baptize  husband  and 
wife  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  and  thus  induct 
them  into  the  kingdom  of  our  Eord,  Jesus  Christ. 

Subsequently  Mr.  Nakashima  was  one  of  the  three 
persons  nominated  by  the  lower  House  of  the  first  Im¬ 
perial  Diet,  one  of  whom,  according  to  their  constitution, 
was  to  be  appointed  by  the  Emperor  to  the  office  of 
Speaker.  The  Emperor’s  choice  fell  upon  Mr.  Naka¬ 
shima.  At  present  he  is  Minister  Plenopotentiary  from 
Japan  to  the  Court  of  Italy. 

Rev.  Moore’s  later  work  in  Tokyo  resulted  in  the 
establishment  of  the  Bancho  church  in  that  city,  which 
for  one  year  worshipped  in  the  dining  room  of  his  resi¬ 
dence.  It  is  to-day  a  self-supporting  congregation,  and 
the  strongest  in  membership  of  the  churches  connected 
with  our  Mission.  It  is  statedly  ministered  to  by  a  native 
pastor,  in  a  fine  chapel  erected  by  the  congregation. 

While  Rev.  Moore  was  most  diligently  and  success¬ 
fully  ministering  to  his  Bancho  congregation  in  Tokyo, 
a  movement  was  going  forward  in  the  city  of  Sendai, 
some  two  hundred  and  twenty  miles  to  the  north  (an 
account  of  which  will  appear  further  on),  which  was 
destined  not  only  to  materially  modify  the  plan  of  opera- 


Work  of  Foreign  Missions. 


13 


tions pursued  up  to  this  time,  but  ultimately  to  determine 
the  policy  according  to  which  our  work  in  Japan  has 
since  been  carried  on.  This  movement  resulted,  as  will 
be  seen,  in  the  removal  of  our  Mission  to  that  northern 
city.  Among  the  early  effects  of  this  new  movement 
appeared  the  necessity  of  Rev.  Moore’s  removal  from 
Tokyo  to  Sendai.  This  at  first  was  extremely  distaste¬ 
ful  to  him,  and  his  aversion  to  the  change  was  intensi¬ 
fied  by  the  extreme  unwillingness  of  his  congregation, 
the  fruit  of  his  early  love  and  labor,  to  consent  to  his 
leaving.  But  constrained  by  the  force  of  circumstances 
and  the  urgency  of  the  Board,  he  acquiesced  with  pain¬ 
ful  reluctance  and  made  the  removal. 

He  was  scarcely  settled  in  Sendai  when  an  opening 
presented  itself  which  seemed  to  promise  large  results 
in  the  way  of  extending  the  blessed  work  to  which  he 
had  consecrated  his  strength  and  life.  The  authorities 
of  the  city  of  Yamagata,  a  place  some  forty  miles  west 
of  Sendai,  desired  to  secure  a  competent  teacher.  They 
did  not  object  to  the  teacher  being  a  Christian,  but  it 
was  not  Christianity  they  sought ;  it  was  simply  secular 
education  for  their  children.  They  were  willing  to  pay 
125  yen  per  month  and  a  residence  for  the  teacher.  He 
was  expected  to  devote  a  certain  number  of  hours  per 
day  to  the  school,  and  his  remaining  time  was  to  be  at 
his  own  disposal.  Rev.  Moore  was  invited  to  accept 
this  position,  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Board  he  did  so.  He  accordingly  removed  to  Yamagata, 
and  for  two  years  he  filled  the  office  of  teacher  in  that 
native  school.  His  leisure  hours  were  not  unemployed, 
but  devoted  to  preaching  the  Gospel.  His  labors  were 
not  without  precious  fruit,  souls  were  won  to  Christ, 
and  a  small  congregation  established,  which  continues 
to  the  present  day. 

At  the  end  of  two  years  the  patrons  of  the  school  in¬ 
timated  an  unwillingness  to  continue  the  contracted 


14 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


arrangement.  This  was  in  large  part  caused,  as  the 
Board  afterwards  learned,  by  its  failure  to  conform  to 
certain  unauthorized  verbal  promises  made  by  its 
agent  at  the  time  of  making  the  original  contract,  and 
of  which  unauthorized  promises  the  Board  was  not  in¬ 
formed  until  after  the  discontinuance  of  Rev.  Moore’s 
services,  when  it  learned  of  them  from  another  person. 
Rev.  Moore  was  not  a  party  to  this  misunderstanding. 

Leaving  Yamagata,  Rev.  Moore  returned  to  Sendai. 
Here,  in  consequence  of  the  laws  of  Japan,  Sendai  not 
being  an  open  port,  he  could  remain  only  in  the  ca¬ 
pacity  of  a  teacher.  The  Training  School  having 
meanwhile  been  established,  he  took  charge  of  some  of 
the  classes.  His  special  service,  however,  has  been 
and  still  continues  to  be,  evangelistic  work,  of  which 
department  he  is  the  appointed  principal. 

After  Rev.  Moore  returned  from  Yamagata  to  Sen¬ 
dai  an  incident  occurred  which  is  deeply  interesting. 
There  is  in  Sendai,  besides  other  government  schools, 
one  designated  the  Higher  Middle  School.  It  is  of  the 
grade  of  our  American  college.  In  it  were  some  500 
to  600  students.  The  school,  teachers  and  all  con¬ 
cerned  were  bitterly  hostile  to  Christianity.  They 
would  have  none  of  it.  What  must  have  been,  there¬ 
fore,  Rev.  Moore’s  surprise  when  one  day  he  was  ap¬ 
proached  by  one  in  authority  with  the  proposition 
that  he  should  take  the  position  of  teacher  of  English 
in  that  school,  teaching  a  certain  number  of  hours  a 
day.  After  consulting  with  his  associates,  of  his  own 
and  kindred  missions,  he  accepted  the  proposition.  He, 
of  course,  could  not  teach  Christianity.  But  he  was  a 
living  epistle.  There  was  a  religious  atmosphere  about 
his  person.  And  when  the  students,  who  were  won 
by  his  cordiality  and  kindness,  drew  near  to  him,  they 
breathed  that  atmosphere.  Some  of  these  accepted  his 
invitation  to  attend  his  Bible  class,  held  in  his  own 


Work  of  Foreign  Missions.  15 

house  in  the  evening.  They  attended,  they  heard,  and 
the  Holy  Spirit  opened  their  eyes  and  their  hearts  to 
the  truth.  A  vigorous  Young  Men’s  Christian  Associa¬ 
tion  sprung  up  in  that  heathen  school,  and  continued 
after  he  left.  His  furlough  to  this  country  called  him 
away  from  this  Higher  Middle  School,  and  when  he 
gave  notice  of  his  retirement,  the  authorities  told  him, 
“We  want  another  man  from  your  Mission,”  so  favor¬ 
ably  had  he  impressed  them.  But  sad  to  say,  we  had 
no  one  to  spare. 

In  the  fall  of  1891  the  Board,  finding  itself  unable 
to  awaken  the  Church  to  a  lively  and  responsive  sense 
of  the  growing  necessities  of  our  rapidly  progressing 
work  in  Japan,  and  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Mission, 
concluded  to  anticipate  by  one  year  the  usual  term, and 
called  Rev.  Moore  home  on  furlough,  hoping  that  his 
presence  and  visits  among  our  churches  would  have 
the  desired  effect  of  arousing  larger  and  more  liberal 
attention  to  our  heaven-blessed  work.  He  with  his  es¬ 
timable  wife  reached  this  country  in  September  of  that 
year,  and  with  what  self-sacrifice  they  labored,  and 
what  large  results  accrued,  are  still  fresh  in  the  memory 
of  our  Reformed  people.  It  was  their  expectation  and 
desire  to  return  to  their  field  of  labor  at  the  end  of  one 
year,  but  at  the  expressed  wish  of  the  Board  their  re¬ 
turn  was  delayed  until  June,  1893. 

During  their  stay  in  this  country  an  event  transpired 
which,  for  a  season,  interferred  with  Rev.  Moore’s  re¬ 
sumption  of  his  evangelistic  work  on  his  return  to  Ja¬ 
pan.  The  Misses  Poorbaugh,  under  whose  efficient 
care  and  labor  the  Girls’  School  at  Sendai  has  made 
such  admirable  progress,  notified  the  Board  that  they 
wished  to  retire  permanently  from  the  work  in  the 
early  future.  This  determination  on  their  part  very 
much  disconcerted  the  Board.  It  asked  them  to  re¬ 
consider  their  determination,  but  without  success.  It 


16 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


knew  not  where  to  find  a  successor,  and  its  efforts  to 
secure  one  resulted,  for  the  time,  in  failure.  It  was 
felt  that  it  could  not  allow  the  whole  weight  of  the 
school  to  rest  upon  the  remaining  American  teacher, 
Miss  Mary  C.  Hollowell.  So  in  the  emergency,  greatly 
to  its  own  regret  and  that  too,  equally  of  Rev.  and 
Mrs.  Moore,  it  felt  compelled  to  appoint  him  tempor¬ 
arily,  Principal,  and  Mrs.  Moore,  Vice-Principal  of  the 
School.  Upon  their  return  they  entered  upon  the 
discharge  of  their  new  duties,  and  so  efficiently  were 
they  discharged  that  the  sudden  change  in  administra¬ 
tion  wrought  no  evil  effects  upon  the  school.  They  con¬ 
tinued  in  this  relation  for  one  year,  when  the  arrival 
of  Miss  Lena  Zurfluh  released  them,  and  Doctor  Moore 
(for  during  his  sojourn  in  this  country,  Heidelburg 
University,  at  Tiffin,  Ohio,  honored  him  with  the  honor¬ 
ary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity),  resumed  his  success¬ 
ful  work  as  Principal  of  the  Evangelistic  Department. 

Rev.  Hasayoshi  Oshikawa,  D.  D. 

In  view  of  the  prominent  part  Rev.  Dr.  Oshikawa 
now  has  in  our  work  in  Japan,  and  the  determining  in¬ 
fluence  he  exerted  upon  it  in  its  earlier  days,  a  sketch 
of  its  history  would  not  be  complete  without  a  brief 
narrative  of  his  share  in  it. 

His  ancestral  name  was  Hashimoto.  He  is  of  the 
saimirai  class  (military  retainers  under  the  old  feudal 
system).  His  father  was  a  man  of  rank  and  was  a 
rigid  Confucianist.  His  mother  was  a  Buddhist.  He 
was  born  December  16,  1850,  and  was  the  fifth  of  seven 
children.  At  the  age  of  eleven,  agreeably  to  the  cus¬ 
tom  of  the  country,  he  was  adopted  into  the  Oshikawa 
family,  aud  thus  became  the  prospective  husband  of 
the  daughter  of  the  house,  there  being  no  male  heir, 
taking  its  name  instead  of  his  own  patronimic.  The 
marriage  took  place  when  he  was  eighteen  years  old. 


Work  of  Foreign  Missions.  17 

About  a  year  after,  he  with  several  other  selected  young 
men  were  sent  by  their  feudal  lord  to  the  Imperial 
English  College  at  Tokyo,  to  fit  them  for  prominent 
service  in  the  government.  Not  finding  satisfactory 
facilities  in  that  institution  for  acquiring  a  thorough 
and  practical  knowledge  of  the  English  language,  he 
was  removed  to  Yokohama.  Although  bitterly  hos¬ 
tile  to  Christianity,  he  placed  himself  under  the  tui¬ 
tion  of  Rev.  James  Ballagh,  D.  D.,  a  missionary  of  the 
Reformed  Church  in  America,  to  learn  English.  The 
English  Bible  was  one  of  his  text-books.  He  read  and 
studied  it  to  acquire  the  language,  despising  its  sacred 
teachings.  But  what  with  a  precocious  mind,  to  dis¬ 
cern  the  facts  of  Christian  civilization,  the  intense  de¬ 
votion  of  the  teacher’s  prayers  which  he  heard,  and  the 
the  study  of  the  Holy  Word,  the  Spirit  of  God  opened 
his  eyes  to  the  truth  and  he  became  a  Christian.  His 
baptism  was  followed  by  the  most  heathenish  persecu¬ 
tion  by  his  adopted  father,  who  but  for  the  intercession 
of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Oshikawa,  he  in  all  probability 
would  have  murdered  him,  which  under  the  then  ex¬ 
isting  laws  he  had  the  right  to^  do. 

Separated  from  his  wife,  he  studied  theology  under 
Rev.  S.  R.  Brown,  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America, 
at  Yokohama.  He  was  active  as  an  Elder  in  the  First 
Church  in  Yokohama,  and  was  asked  to  become  its  reg¬ 
ular  pastor,  but  he  declined.  Subsequently  he  became 
the  assistant  of  the  Christian  pastor  at  Niigata,  263 
miles  west  of  Tokyo,  where  he  suffered  intense  perse¬ 
cution.  During  the  third  year  of  his  stay  in  Niigata 
his  wife,  with  the  tardy  permission  of  her  father,  re¬ 
joined  him.  During  the  last  year  he  made  a  tour  of 
observation,  visiting,  besides  other  places,  the  city  of 
Sendai,  a  place  of  some  sixty  thousand  inhabitants.  So 
deeply  was  he  impressed  with  his  favorable  reception 
and  the  promising  outlook  that  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  lo- 


18  Historical  Sketch  of  the 

cate  there.  This  he  did  several  months  subsequently. 
After  several  years  of  labor  and  suffering,  having  gath¬ 
ered  some  200  souls  into  the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  he  felt 
the  need  of  help  and  cooperation.  To  secure  these  he 
visited  Tokyo  in  1885,  a^d  came  in  contact  with  our 
Mission,  consisting  then  of  Revs.  Gring  and  Moore,  also 
Rev.  W.  E.  Hoy,  who  had  just  arrived  from  America. 

Rev.  Oshikawa,  having  failed  in  his  endeavors  to 
secure  aid  from  other  Missions  to  establish  a  boy’s 
school  in  Sendai,  at  once  besought  Rev.  Hoy  with 
glowing  representations  and  most  importunate  urgency 
to  visit  Sendai.  Rev.  Hoy  yielded  to  this  importunity, 
visited  Sendai  and  vicinity,  and  the  result  was  the 
ultimate  removal  of  our  Mission  to  that  city,  and  the 
inauguration  of  the  educational  policy  of  our  work, 
which  has  been  vigorously  pursued  ever  since,  and 
which  has  produced  such  large  and  blessed  results. 

After  the  establishment  of  our  Training  School, 
afterwards  named  the  Tohoku  Gakuin,  Rev.  Oshikawa 
was  elected  President,  in  deference  to  the  jealous  de¬ 
mands  of  the  Japanese,  in  which  position  he  continues 
to  render  most  efficient  service.  In  addition  to  this 
service,  finding  that  many  young  men  who  were  de¬ 
sirous  of  availing  themselves  of  the  educational  facili¬ 
ties  offered  by  our  institutions,  were  unable  to  support 
themselves,  he  has  at  his  own  financial  risk  estab¬ 
lished  an  Industrial  Home,  into  which  poor  students 
are  received,  who,  devoting  a  certain  portion  of  their 
time  to  industrial  pursuits,  earn  a  part  of  their  support, 
their  wages  going  into  the  treasury  of  the  Home! 
This  Home  receives  aid  from  charitably  minded  Jap¬ 
anese,  and  recently  the  board  appropriated  $100,  to 
cancel  the  balance  of  an  annoying  debt.  By  this 
means  quite  a  number  of  poor  students  are  enabled  to 
acquire  an  education  in  our  Christian  School,  a  number 
of  whom  are  candidates  for  the  ministry. 


Work  of  Foreign  Missions. 


19 


Rev.  M.  Oshikawa,  D.  D.,  is  one  of  the  foremost 
and  ablest  ministers  in  the  United  Church  of  Christ  in 
Japan.  He  is  a  man  of  unusual  oratorical  powers  and 
widespread  influence.  His  intimate  association  with 
our  work  and  institutions  is  of  great  importance  and 
benefit.  At  present  he  is  at  the  head  of  ajmovement 
for  the  adoption  of  a  system  of  education  in  Korea. 
‘This  doubtless  will 
prove  but  the  stepping 
stone  to  the  wider  dif¬ 
fusion  of  Christianity. 

At  their  meeting  in 
June,  1895,  the  Board 
of  Trustees  of  Frank¬ 
lin  and  Marshall  Col¬ 
lege,  Lancaster,  Pa., 
conferred  the  hono¬ 
rary  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Divinity  on  Rev. 

M.  Oshikawa. 


REV.  W.  E.  HOY. 


Third  Missionary— Rev. 

W.  E.  Hoy. 

! 

As  long  as  the  Mis¬ 
sion  made  Tokyo  its 
seat  and  centre  the  two 
missionaries,  compris¬ 
ing  the  Mission,  Revs. 

Gring  and  Moore,  confined  their  labors  to  evangel¬ 
istic  work.  The  policy  of  supplementing  this  with 
educational  work,  in  the  way  of  establishing  Christian 
schools,  was  considered  and  discussed.  Some  prelimi¬ 
nary  steps  were  taken  while  yet  in  Tokyo,  but  it  was 
not  until  after  the  removal  to  Sendai  that  the  educa¬ 
tional  policy,  now  so  characteristic  of  our  whole  work, 
was  gradually  adopted.  This  was  brought  about 


20  Historical  Sketch  of  the 

largely  by  the  untiring  labors  and  self-sacrificing  per¬ 
sistency  of  Rev.  W.  E.  Hoy. 

Rev.  W.  E.  Hoy  was  appointed  the  third  missionary 
April  21,  1885.  He  was  born  June  4,  1858,  near  Mif- 
flinburg,  Union  county,  Pa.  He  is  a  graduate  of 
Franklin  and  Marshall  College  and  of  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Lancaster,  Pa.  He  sailed  in  November, 
1885,  and  reached  Japan  December  1. 

The  second  day  after  his  arrival  in  Tokyo,  the  -Mis¬ 
sion  still  being  in  that  city,  he  met  Rev.  M.  Oshikawa 

at  the  house  of  Rev. 
James  Ballagh,  D.  D., 
who  at  once  besought 
him  most  earnestly  to 
locate  in  the  city  of 
Sendai,  where  he  was 
carrying  on  a  most 
successful  work.  Rev. 
Hoy  promised  him  to 
visit  Sendai,  and  with¬ 
in  a  week  after  his  ar¬ 
rival  in  Japan,  in  com¬ 
pany  with  Rev.  Gring, 
fulfilled  his  promise. 
He  was  impressed  for¬ 
cibly  with  the  ‘  ‘  oppor¬ 
tunity  of  the  hour,” 
as  he  expresses  it, 
and  unhesitatingly  ac¬ 
cepted  the  invitation 
to  locate  there.  On 
January  13,  1886,  he  took  up  his  residence  in  Sendai. 
He  immediately  commenced  his  educational  work, 
which  he  has  continued  with  unflagging  enthusiasm 
ever  since,  a  fuller  account  of  which  will  be  found  in 
the  narrative  further  on,  of  the  founding  and  progress 


MRS.  WILLIAM  E.  HOY. 


Work  of  Foreign  Missions. 


21 


of  the  Tohoku  Gakuin.  He  betook  himself  to  the  ac¬ 
quisition  of  the  language  with  such  diligence  and  suc¬ 
cess  that  on  the  first  anniversary  of  his  arrival  in  Japan 
he  was  able  to  preach  his  first  sermon  in  Japanese. 

Realizing  in  the  way  of  personal  experience  the  truth 
of  the  inspired  words,  “that  it  is  not  good  for  man  to  be 
alone,”  on  December  27,  1887,  he  married  Miss  Mary  B. 
Ault,  one  of  the  ladies  sent  out  by  our  Board  to  estab¬ 
lish  a  Girls’  School  in  Sendai,  who  has  since  proved,  in 
the  full  sense  of  the  word,  to  be  a  “helpmeet”  to  him. 

Together  with  his  continuous  labors  as  a  teacher  in 
the  educational  institutions,  he  has  expended  large 
and  efficient  work  in  evangelistic  activity,  extending 
throughout  the  large  territory  included  in  our  field. 
He  has  been  sorely  afflicted  with  asthma  at  times,  with  a 
severity  that  interrupted  his  labors,  and  excited  appre¬ 
hensions  that  it  might  disable  him.  But,  happily,  with 
the  Divine  blessing,  he  has  found  such  relief  as  leaves 
him  exposed  to  only  an  occasional  modified  attack. 

In  1893  Rev.  Hoy  commenced  the  publication  of  a 
bi-monthly  magazine,  entitled  The  Japan  Evangelist, 
of  sixty  pages  at  the  surprisingly  low  subscription 
price  of  $1  per  year.  It  is  filled  with  a  high  order  of 
literature,  written  largely  by  native  Japanese,  and  is 
exceeding  valuable  in  its  illustrations  of  the  religious 
life  and  thought  of  that  people. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Board  in  March,  1893, 
a  furlough  to  return  to  America  was  granted  Rev. 
Hoy.  It  was  not  until  in  December,  1894,  however, 
that  he  availed  himself  of  this  privilege.  Meanwhile, 
early  in  the  year  1894  he  sent  Mrs.  Hoy  with  their 
three  children,  accompanied  by  Miss  Misao  \oshida, 
her  Bible  woman,  in  advance.  These  ladies  have  since 
traveled  widely  among  our  churches  in  the  interest  of 
the  work  in  which  their  souls  seem  to  be  wholly  ab¬ 
sorbed,  to  the  lively  interest  and  great  profit  of  our 


22 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


home  Christians.  At  present  Rev.  Hoy  is  laboriously 
engaged  in  visiting  our  churches,  pleading  the  cause 
for  which  alone  he  seems  to  live,  and  for  which  he 
seeme  equally  willing  to  die. 

Educational  Policy. 

Up  to  December,  1885,  the  two  missionaries,  Revs. 
Gring  and  Moore,  besides  their  studies  in  acquiring 
the  language,  had  directed  their  efforts  principally  to 
evangelistic  work,  together  with  the  literary  work  on 
the  part  of  Rev.  Gring,  already  noted.  But  little 
directly  educational  work  had  been  accomplished  or 
attempted.  Soon  after  Rev.  Hoy’s  arrival  in  December, 
1885,  the  Mission  effected  a  formal  organization  by  the 
election  of  Rev.  Gring,  President;  Rev.  Hoy,  Secre¬ 
tary,  and  Rev.  Moore,  Treasurer,  This  organization 
was  approved  by  the  Board. 

In  December,  1885,  a  few  days  after  his  arrival,  Rev. 
Hoy  in  company  with  Rev.  Gring,  as  stated  above, 
upon  the  urgent  invitation  of  Rev.  Oshikawa,  visited 
the  city  of  Sendai,  situated  near  the  sea  coast,  some 
220  miles  north  of  Tokyo,  so  deeply  were  they  impressed 
with  the  promising  outlook  for  a  successful  work,  that 
Rev.  Hoy  at  once  resolved  to  make  it  his  residence, 
which  resolution  he  carried  into  effect  on  the  13th  of 
the  following  month  of  January,  1886.  This  step  was 
subsequently  approved  by  the  Board.  He  hastened  to 
confer  with  the  Board  as  to  the  character  of  the  work 
to  which  he  should  specially  direct  his  efforts,  whether 
evangelistic  or  teaching.  At  the  time  the  Board,  not 
feeling  itself  prepared  to  adopt  an  educational  policy, 
directed  him  to  spend  his  labors  primarily  in  evangel¬ 
istic  work,  but  that  if  favoring  circumstances,  should 
seem  to  require  it  the  Board  would  approve  his  adding 
teaching  to  evangelistic  labor. 

At  the  onset  he  found  himself  surrounded  by  some 


23 


Work  of  Foreign  Missions. 

thirty  young  men.  Some  for  the  study  of  the  Bible; 
others  to  learn  the  English  language.  The  thought  of 
establishing  a  regular  Christian  school,  so  urgently 
pressed  by  Rev.  Oshikawa,  took  deeper  and  deeper 
hold  upon  his  mind.  He  and  Rev.  Oshikawa,  in  most 
devout  prayer,  sought  guidance  from  on  high.  He 
besought  the  Board  to  formally  establish  such  a  school, 
but  it  was  not  yet  prepared  to  inaugurate  such  a  move¬ 
ment.  Oppressed  with  perplexity,  they  continued  to 
pray.  When,  however,  one  day  Rev.  Oshikawa  came 
to  him  with  the  twelve  pieces  of  silver  contributed  by 
the  poor  widow  (it  was  all  she  had,  she  had  saved  it  to 
defray  her  own  funeral  expenses),  to  establish  a  Chris¬ 
tian  school,  they  regarded  it  as  a  token  of  divine  favor, 
and  in  reliance  upon  Providence  they  resolved  to  go 
forward.  Rev.  Hoy  soon  gathered  about  him  six 
young  men  who  desired  to  be  instructed  and  trained 
to  preach  the  Gospel.  For  one  year  he  supported  these 
poor  young  men  himself,  at  such  cost  of  self-sacrifice 
as  at  times  to  trench  upon  the  necessaries  of  life  and 
ordinary  comfort.  He  met  them  in  a  poor  Japanese 
house,  in  the  most  solitar}^  part  of  the  city,  without 
a  stove  in  the  winter,  warming  their  hands  over  a  little 
charcoal  fire.  And  yet  he  pronounces  it  to  be  the 
happiest  year  of  his  school  life.  This  was  the  incep¬ 
tion  of  what  was  at  first  called  the  Training  School, 
and  later  The  Tohoku  Gakuin. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  year  the  Board  came  to  his 
relief  by  assuming  the  support  of  the  School.  In  the 
fall  of  1887,  for  several  months,  the  School  met  in  a 
small  Japanese  hut,  on  the  spot  where  his  residence 
now  stands.  From  there  it  removed  to  the  old  Bud¬ 
dhist  temple  which  is  still  occupied  by  the  Sendai  con¬ 
gregation.  In  August,  1888,  Rev.  Hoy  purchased  the 
main  part  of  the  ground  now  occupied  by  the  Tohoku 
Gakuin,  and  erected  thereon  the  Rev.  John  Ault 


— 


24 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


Memorial  Hall,  all  at  his  own  personal  cost.  Early  in 
December,  1888,  the  School  removed  into  the  Memorial 
Hall,  where  it  remained  until  September  18,  1891,  when 
it  moved  into  the  present  Tohoku  Gakuin  building. 

Fourth  Missionary— Rev.  D.  B.  Schneder. 

In  1887  in  consequence  of  the  removal  of  Rev.  Moore 
to  Yamagata,  as  already  mentioned,  and  a  furlough  be¬ 
ing  granted  to  Rev.  Gring  to  return  to  America  (who 
during  his  furlough  resigned  his  commission  as  mis¬ 
sionary  under  our  Board  and  retired  permanently),  to¬ 
gether  with  the  large  growth  of  the  Training  School 
requiring  an  increase  of  the  teaching  force,  the  Board 
felt  itself  under  the  necessity  of  sending  out  an  addi¬ 
tional  missionary.  Accordingly  Rev.  D.  B.  Schneder 
was  appointed  July  7,  1887,  and  reached  Japan  with  his 
wife,  who  was  Miss  Anna  M.  Shoenberger,  of  Read¬ 


ing,  Pa.,  on  December 
21,  1887. 


Rev.  D.  B.  Schne¬ 
der  was  born  at  Bow- 
mansville,  Eancaster 
county,  Pa.,  March  23, 
1857.  He  graduated 
in  Franklin  and  Mar¬ 
shall  College  and  the 
Theological  Seminary, 
Lancaster,  Pa.  He  had 
several  years’  pastoral 
experience  before  go¬ 
ing  to  Japan.  He 
most  efficiently  occu¬ 
pies  the  chair  of  Dog¬ 
matic  Theology  in  the 
Tohoku  Gakuin.  At 
the  present  time  he  is 


REV.  D.  B.  SCHNEDER. 


Work  of  Foreign  Missions. 


25 


enjoying  fairly  good 
health,  having  several 
months  since  recov¬ 
ered  from  a  violent  at¬ 
tack  of  typhoid  fever, 
which  at  the  time  was 
gravely  feared  would 
prove  fatal.  But  a 
gracious  Providence 
has  mercifully  raised 
him  up  again  to  pro- 
longed  usefulness. 

Besides  his  severe  la¬ 
bors  as  professor  in  the 
Tohoku  Gakuin,  he 
shares  his  full  part 
with  his  associates  in 
evangelistic  and  Sun¬ 
day-school  work.  He 
is  a  man  of  profound 
thought  and  untiring  industry.  The  Board  has  already 
granted  him  the  usual  furlough,  and  he  will  return  to 
America  after  Rev.  Hoy’s  return  to  Japan  in  1896. 


MRS.  D.  B.  SCHNEDER. 


Fifth  Hissionary — Rev.  Henry  K.  Hiller. 

In  consequence  of  the  large  and  rapid  increase  in  the 
number  of  students  after  the  occupancy  of  the  new 
Tohoku  Gakuin  Building  in  September,  1891,  the  neces¬ 
sity  for  the  further  increase  of  the  teaching  force  became 
apparent.  The  Board  felt  itself  unable,  for  want  of 
adequate  means,  to  commission  new  missionaries,  until 
the  urgency  became  so  imperative  that,  ‘  ‘  walking  by 
faith,”  it  ventured,  without  the  means  of  support  in 
sight,  to  appoint  one  additional  person. 

That  person  was  Mr.  Henry  K.  Miller,  Reading,  Pa. 
He  was  born  in  Lebanon,  Pa.,  November  9,  1866.  He 


26  Historical  Sketch  of  the 

is  a  graduate  of  Franklin  and  Marshall  College,  Lan¬ 
caster,  Pa.,  and  of  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New 
York  City.  He  was  appointed  July  13,  1892.  The  fare¬ 
well  services  were  held  in  St.  Paul’s  Reformed  Church, 
Reading,  Pa,,  on  which  occasion  he  was  ordained  to 
the  gospel  ministry  by  a  committee  appointed  for  that 
purpose  by  the  Schuylkill  Classis,  of  which  he  is  a 
member.  He  sailed  from  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  Septem¬ 
ber  27,  1892,  and  arrived  at  Yokohama,  Japan,  October 
15,  1892.  After  his  arrival  in  Sendai  he  at  once  entered 
upon  the  work  of  teaching  in  the  Tohoku  Gakuin, 
imparting  instruction  to  such  students  as  had  acquired 
the  English  language,  while  at  the  same  time  he  entered 
diligently  upon  the  task  of  learning  the  Japanese  lan¬ 
guage.  He  engaged  zealously  in  Sunday-school  work, 
and,  aided  by  his  personal  teacher  of  the  language  as 
interpreter,  he  entered  upon  evangelistic  work.  He 
established  a  Sunday-school  and  preaching  point  at 

Miyamachi,  a  suburb 
of  the  city  of  Sendai, 
but  soon  discovered 
that,  to  make  his  labors 
at  this  point  a  success, 
a  chapel  was  a  neces¬ 
sity.  For  the  erection 
of  such  a  building  the 
Mission  voted  him  a 
grant  of  300  yen 
(about  $150),  which 
grant  was  approved 
by  the  Board.  Re¬ 
cently,  to  the  glad 
surprise  of  Rev.  Mil¬ 
ler,  the  Sunday-school 
of  St.  Paul’s  Reformed 
Church,  Reading,  Pa., 


REV.  HENRY  K.  MILLER. 


Work  of  Foreign  Missions.  27 

of  which  he  had  been  a  member,  made  a  donation  of 
$800  for  the  erection  of  this  chapel,  which  money  is 
already  in  hand.  Rev.  Miller  is  one  of  the  regular 
professors  in  the  Tohoku  Gakuin. 

At  the  time  of  the  appointment  of  Rev.  H.  K.  Miller 
as  missionary  the  Board  was  without  the  means  either 
for  his  outfit  or  for  his  support  after  reaching  his  field 
of  labor.  The  first  want  was  providentially  provided 
for  by  the  payment  of  $1,000  by  Mrs.  Louisa  Wirt, 
Hanover,  Pa.,  in  lieu  of  a  bequest  of  that  amount,  made 
by  her  deceased  husband,  Elder  Henry  Wirt,  which  be¬ 
quest  had  failed  because  of  a  legal  defect  in  the  will. 
The  second  want  was  met  by  the  Sunday-schools  of  the 
Church  taking  shares  or  blocks  of  $5  per  annum,  suffi¬ 
cient  for  his  support.  He  is  accordingly  designated  the 
Sunday-school  Missionary .  About  237  of  our  Sunday- 
schools  share  in  this  praiseworthy  scheme. 

The  Christian  Endeavor  Missionary,  Rev.  Sylvanus  S. 

Snyder. 

The  continued  prosperity  of  our  work  ceased  not  to 
press  for  further  reinforcement  of  our  band  of  workers 
in  the  field.  Meanwhile  the  Christian  Endeavor  Soci¬ 
eties  of  our  Church,  one  of  whose  primary  aims  is  the 
advancement  of  the  cause  of  Missions,  both  at  home 
and  abroad,  proposed  to  the  Board  that  they  would 
support  an  additional  missionary  to  Japan,  on  condi¬ 
tion  that  he  be  designated  The  Christian  Endeavor 
Missiojiary .  The  Board  gladly  accepted  the  proposi¬ 
tion  and  hastened  to  issue  its  call  for  applicants  for  the 
appointment.  In  response  sixteen  young  men  made 
answer.  Of  this  number  the  choice  fell  upon  Mr. 
Sylvanus  S.  Snyder  as  the  C.  E.  Missionary,  and  Mr. 
Christopher  Noss  as  an  additional  Missionary. 

Mr.  Snyder  proceeded  immediately  to  prepare  to 
enter  upon  the  field  of  his  labor  in  Japan.  He  was  born 


in  Columbiana,  Ohio, 
October  23,  1 867.  He 
is  a  graduate  of  Woos¬ 
ter  University,  Woos¬ 
ter,  Ohio,  and  of  the 
Heidelberg  Theologi¬ 
cal  Seminary,  Tiffin, 
Ohio.  The  farewell 
services  were  held  in 
Trinity  Reformed 
Church,  Canton,  Ohio, 
September  5,  1894, 
which  time  he  was  or¬ 
dained  to  the  gospel 
ministry  by  a  Commit¬ 
tee  of  the  East  Ohio 
Classis,  of  which  he  is 
a  member,  appointed 
for  that  purpose.  Before 


REV.  SYLVANUS  S.  SNYDER. 

his  departure  for  Japan  he  was 
united  in  marriage  to 
Miss  M.  A.  Souder,  of 
near  Uandisburg, 
Perry  county,  Pa. 
They  sailed  for  Japan 
from  Vancouver,  B.C., 
September  17,  1894, 
and  arrived  at  Yoko¬ 
hama,  Japan,  October 
2,  1894.  In  conse¬ 

quence  of  Rev.  W.  E. 
Hoy’s  departure  to 
America,  on  furlough, 
soon  after  his  arrival  at 
Sendai,  he  was  at  once 
employed  in  the  To- 
hoku  Gakuin  to  teach 


MRS.  SYLVANUS  S.  SNYDER. 


29 


Work  of  Foreign  Missions. 

some  classes  that  were  competent  to  receive  instruction 
in  the  English  language,  in  which  service,  together  with 
his  study  of  the  Japanese  language,  he  is  still’engaged. 

Seventh  Missionary,  Mr.  Christopher  No ss. 

Although  seven  male  missionaries  have  been  ap¬ 
pointed  by  the  board,  yet  in  consequence  of  the  retire¬ 
ment  of  Rev.  A.  D.  Gring,  with  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Noss 
on  the  field,  the  force  will  comprise  but  six,  besides  the 
two  ladies  in  the  Girls’  School. 

Mr.  Christopher  Noss,  missionary-elect,  is  a  gradu¬ 
ate  of  Franklin  and  Marshall  College,  and  in  1894  of 
the  Theological  Seminary  at  Lancaster,  Pa.  He  is 
the  son  of  Rev.  J.  G.  Noss,  pastor  of  the  Reformed 
church  at  New  Holland,  Lancaster  county,  Pa.  After 
his  appointment,  with  the  sanction  of  the  Board,  he 
went  to  Berlin,  Germany,  for  a  year’s  post-graduate 
course  in  the  University  in  that  city.  Completing  his 

post-graduate  course,  he 
returned  to  the  United 
States  and  was  regularly 
commissioned  a  mission¬ 
ary  to  Japan,  by  the  Ex¬ 
ecutive  Committee  at  its 
regular  quarterly  meet¬ 
ing,  convened  in  Harris¬ 
burg,  Pa.,  September  10, 
1895,  with  instructions  to 
repair  to  his  field  of  labor 
in  Sendai,  Japan,  not 
later  than  December  1, 
1895.  On  the  22d  of  Oc- 

1 

tober  Mr.  Noss  was  mar- 
:  ried  to  Miss  Lura  Boyer, 
of  Aquashicola,  Carbon 
county,  Pa.  The  fare- 


REV.  CHRISTOPHER  NOSS. 


30 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


well  services  were  ob¬ 
served  in  the  Reformed 
church,  Frederick, 

Md.,  on  the  evening  of 
October  23d,  on  which 
occasion  he  was  or¬ 
dained  to  the  gospel 
ministry  by  a  commit¬ 
tee  appointed  for  that 
purpose  by  the  Classis 
of  Maryland.  These 
services  were  held  dur¬ 
ing  the  annual  meet¬ 
ing  of  the  Synod  of 
the  Potomac  held  in 
that  church. 

The 

Tohoku  Gakuin. 

The  Institution  com¬ 
prises  a  Preparatory 
course  of  three  years;  a  Collegiate  course  of  four  years, 
and  a  Theological  course  of  three  years;  or,  as  recently 
changed,  into  a  lower  course  of  five  years  and  a  higher 
course  of  two  years.  The  higher  course  being  divided 
into  a  literary  and  a  scientific  course.  The  Theologi¬ 
cal  course  remains  as  it  was.  This  change  has  been 
made,  to  be  more  in  harmony  with  the  general  educa¬ 
tional  system  of  the  country.  The  number  of  students 
in  all  the  departments  in  1894 — ’95  was  a  little  less 
than  the  year  preceding,  from  140  to  150.  At  the 
opening  of  the  spring  term  of  1895  twenty- two  new 
students  entered,  and  there  were  some  ten  more  appli¬ 
cants.  Of  these  50  are  candidates  for  the  ministry.  Of 
these  last,  27  are  supported  by  American  patrons,  who 
contribute  $60  a  year  for  this  purpose. 

Some  eight  graduates  have  left  the  Theological  De- 


MRS.  CHRISTOPHER  NOSS. 


Work  of  Foreign  Missions. 


31 


partment  of  the  Tohoku  Gakuin  and  have  gone  into 
the  field  as  evangelists.  Another  class  graduates  this 
year  (1895).  Each  succeeding  year  a  larger  or  smaller 
class  of  graduates  will  go  out. 

For  the  last  two  or  three  years  the  number  of  stu¬ 
dents  has  exceeded  the  capacity  of  the  buildings. 
Some  rooms  in  the  dormitory  had  to  be  used  as  recita¬ 
tion  rooms.  There  is  a  felt  necessity  for  larger  facili¬ 
ties  in  this  regard,  which,  should  the  number  of  stu¬ 
dents  continue  to  increase,  will  become  urgent. 

The  Faculty. 

The  Faculty  of  the  Collegiate  and  Theological  De¬ 
partments  consists  of  the  following  members  : 

REV.  Masayoshi  Oshikawa,  D.  D.,  President  and  Professor 
of  Biblical  Instruction  and  Theology.  * 

Rev.  Wieeiam  E.  Hoy,  Vice-President  and  Professor  of 
Exegetical  Theology,  Psychology  and  Greek. 

REV.  David  B.  Schneder,  Professor  of  Theology,  Philos¬ 
ophy  and  English  Literature. 

REV.  Jairus  P.  Moore,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Historical  The- 
ology. 

Rev.  Henry  K.  MiEEER,  Professor  of  Ethics,  Apologetics 
and  English  Language. 

REV.  Kinsoku  Fujiu,  Professor  of  Natural  Theology  and 
Social  Science. 

Rev.  Komanosuke  Kumagai,  Professor  of  Historical  The- 
ology,  Political  Economy  and  the  English  Language. 

Besides  these  there  are  five  other  professors,  natives,, 
and  two  native  tutors. 

During  Rev.  W.  E.  Hoy’s  absence  on  furlough,  Rev. 
S.  S.  Snyder  teaches  several  classes  in  the  institution. 

Mr.  Christopher  Noss,  who  will  go  to  Sendai  in  the 
fall  or  winter  of  1895,  it  is  expected  will  take  part  in 
teaching  in  the  institution. 

In  1891  the  Japanese  and  American  friends  of  Elder 
R.  F.  Kelker,  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  established  the  Rudolph 
F.  Kelker  Memorial  Library,  which  now  contains  some 


32  Historical  Sketch  of  the 

3,600  volumes,  with  the  number  increasing  from  year 
to  year. 

Hr.  Dengoro  Takahashi. 

A  most  interesting  and  sad  experience  fell  to  the  lot 
of  Mr.  Dengoro  Takahashi,  one  of  the  evangelists  sent 
out  from  our  Tohoku  Gakuin. 

There  is  a  chain  of  islands,  called  Chishima  or  Ku¬ 
riles,  extending  from  the  Hokkaido  (the  most  northerly 
"of  the  large  Japanese  islands),  to  the  southern  point  of 
Kamtschatka.  With  the  exception  of  a  few  of  the  most 
southerly  of  these  islands,  they  are  uninhabited,  bleak 
and  desolate.  Japan  has  been  seeking  to  colonize 
them. 

In  the  spring  of  1893  an  officer  by  the  name  of 
Gunji,  who  had  been  a  Lieutenant  in  the  Japanese  navy, 
left  Tokyo,  with  a  company  of  about  one  hundred  men, 
on  a  colonizing  expedition  to  these  islands.  He  had 
occasion  to  stop  on  the  coast,  near  Sendai  to  repair  his 
vessel.  He  visited  Sendai,  and  by  previous  arrange¬ 
ment  met  Rev.  M.  Oshikawa.  After  the  most  im¬ 
portunate  solicitation  on  the  part  of  the  latter,  the 
Lieutenant  consented  to  take  with  him  a  Christian  mis¬ 
sionary,  if  he  could  give  him  a  young  man  who  was 
perfectly  reliable.  Rev.  Oshikawa  turning  to  Mr. 
Takahashi,  who  was  present  as  the  messenger  who  had 
acted  between  the  two  men,  said,  “  Here  is  one.” 
Lieut.  Gunji  said,  “  All  right,  I  will  take  him.” 

Mr.  Takahashi  was  the  beneficiary  of  the  Salem  Re¬ 
formed  Mission  Band,  Allentown,  Pa.  He  had  not 
yet  entirely  completed  his  theological  course,  but  with 
the  approbation  of  the  Faculty  he  consented  to  go. 
He  was  a  devout  Christian,  sincere  to  the  core,  stright- 
forward,  fearless,  simple  in  his  habits,  strong  in  body, 
and  amply  able  and  willing  to  endure  hardships.  Hasty 
arrangements  for  his  departure  were  made,  his  fellow 
students  contributing,  and  the  Ladies’  Aid  Society  of 


33 


Work  of  Foreign  Missions. 

Sendai  church  emptied  their  treasury  of  eight  yen  of 
their  hard  earnings  to  provide  him  an  outfit.  He 
joined  the  expedition  at  Hakodate  and  sailed  with  it 
to  its  destination. 

Communication  with  these  islands  was  very  infre¬ 
quent,  and  all  was  supposed  to  be  well  with  the  colony 
until  in  June,  1894,  a  war  vessel  with  supplies  visited 
the  island,  Shashikotan  by  name,  and  in  about  the 
same  latitude  with  Newfoundland  in  the  Atlantic.  A 
reconnoitering  party  came  upon  a  hut,  and  on  entering 
found  poor  Takahashi  and  three  of  his  companions 
lying  on  the  floor  dead.  From  a  dairy  kept  by  the 
party  and  found  in  the  hut,  it  was  supposed  that  they 
had  died  about  December  10,  1893.  The  conjecture  as 
to  the  cause  of  their  death  is  that  they  were  smothered 
by  the  fumes  of  a  charcoal  fire,  made  to  cook  their  rice; 
the  person  making  the  fire  in  the  morning  returning  to 
his  bed,  falling  asleep  with  his  sleeping  companions, 
without  ventilating  the  room.  If  the  hypothesis  is 
correct,  they  had  laid  there  from  December  to  June, 
the  extreme  cold  preventing  decomposition.  The  in¬ 
telligence  of  his  death  made  a  profound  impression 
upon  his  Christian  friends  and  associates.  It  was  re¬ 
ceived  by  Rev.  Dr.  Oshikawa  while  in  attendance  upon 
the  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  the  Church  of  Christ  of 
Japan.  They  had  been  engaged  in  a  heated  discussion 
and  excitement  prevailed.  But  when  the  sad  telegram 
was  read  to  the  body,  there  was  a  general  revulsion  of 
feeling,  and  tears  flowed  down  over  cheeks  which  but 
a  little  while  before  were  flushed  with  the  excitement 
of  debate.  A  movement  was  contemplated  to  organize 
a  Takahashi  Memorial  Missionary  Society,  to  go  for¬ 
ward  under  the  inspiration  of  his  example  of  self-devo¬ 
tion,  to  accomplish  the  work  of  saving  souls,  for  which 
he  laid  down  his  young  life.  He  was  looked  upon  as 
a  Christian  hero. 


34 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 

The  Girls’  School. 

The  importance  of  inaugurating  this  very  important 
branch  of  missionary  service  was  felt  before  the  Mis¬ 
sion  was  removed  from  Tokyo.  But  no  effective  steps 
were  taken  for  establishing  a  regularly  equipped  school 
until  the  settlement  in  Sendai.  The  Board,  impressed 
with  the  urgency  of  the  call  in  this  direction,  hastened  to 
provide  for  it  by  the  appointment  of  two  ladies,  to  whom 
was  committed  the  service  of  establishing  a  Girls’ 
School  in  the  city  of  Sendai,  Japan.  These  ladies  were 
Miss  Lizzie  R.  Poorbaugh  and  Miss  Mary  B.  Ault. 

Miss  Poorbaugh  is  the  daughter  of  an  esteemed  Elder 
of  the  Reformed  Church,  Berlin,  Pa.  She  graduated 
from  the  High  School,  York,  Pa.,  and  subsequently 
taught  with  success  in  the  public  schools. 

Miss  Ault  is  the  daughter  of  the  late  Rev.  John  Ault, 
of  the  Reformed  Church.  She  graduated  from  the 
Keystone  State  Normal  School,  Kutztown,  Pa. 

These  ladies  were  appointed  April  21,  1885,  but  in 
consequence  of  the  low  state  of  the  Board’s  treasury, 
they  did  not  sail  for  Japan  until  in  June  1886.  They 
reached  Yokohama  July  1,  1887.  Arriving  in  Japan 
the  ladies  were  instructed  to  proceed  to  Sendai,  where 
their  coming  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  Girls’ 
School  had  been  announced  by  Rev.  W.  E.  Hoy.  No 
difficulty  was  experienced  in  securing  scholars,  as  a 
general  desire  prevailed  to  learn  the  English  language. 
A  Japanese  house  was  rented  for  school  purposes  and  a 
number  of  pupils  were  gathered  in.  Among  these 
were  several  girls  whom  Rev.  Gring  had  placed  in  the 
Graham  Seminary  in  Tokyo,  one  of  whom  was  Miss 
Yoshida,  now  Mrs.  Hoy’s  Bible  Woman,  until  a  school 
of  our  own  might  be  established.  The  school  soon 
filled  to  overflowing.  The  number  of  scholars  at  one 
time  reached  some  eighty.  When,  however,  the  reac¬ 
tion  against  foreigners  occurred,  the  number  decreased. 


THE  GIRLS’  SCHOOL,  SENDAI,  JAPAN. 


36 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


The  ladies  with  most  praiseworthy  diligence  and  de¬ 
voted  zeal,  betook  themselves  to  their  work  and  suc¬ 
ceeded  in  establishing  an  admirable  and  efficient  school, 
which  has  prospered  and  grown  into  one  of  the  grandest 
features  of  our  foreign  work. 

In  cansequence  of  the  rapid  growth  of  the  school  and 
the  discovery  of  the  insufficiency  of  the  Japanese 
rented  house,  as  a  healthy  residence  for  the  American 
ladies,  early  in  1887  the  Board  called  upon  the  Church 
through  the  church  papers  for  special  contributions 
for  the  purchase  of  necessary  grounds  and  the  erection 
of  suitable  buildings  for  the  school  and  the  residence 
of  the  ladies.  In  response,  Rev.  J.  I.  Swander,  D. 
D.,  and  his  estimable  wife,  of  Tiffin,  Ohio,  contrib¬ 
uted  the  sum  of  eleven  hundred  dollars,  which,  with 
$150  added  by  others,  secured  the  purchase  of  the 
grounds  now  occupied  by  the  Girl’s  School  building 
and  the  ladies  residence.  Further  contributions  for 
the  purpose  being  received,  the  erection  of  the  proposed 
buildings  was  entered  upon  in  1888,  and  in  due  time 
the  present  buildings  were  completed.  For  the  desks 
and  chairs,  which  are  of  a  modern  and  beautiful  design, 
with  which  the  school  room  is  fitted  up,  the  Church 
stands  indebted  to  Elder  Benjamin  Kuhns,  Dayton, 
Ohio,  who  furnished  them  at  a  cost  to  himself  of  $706. 

Resignation  of  Miss  Mary  B.  Ault  and  the  Appointment 
of  Miss  Emma  F.  Poorbaugh. 

In  October,  1887,  the  Board  received  the  resignation 
of  Miss  Mary  B.  Ault  as  a  missionary  in  its  service,, 
with  a  view  to  her  marriage  to  Rev.  W.  E.  Hoy,  the 
resignation  to  take  effect  July  1,  1888. 

This  gave  rise  to  the  necessity  of  sending  out  another 
lady  to  take  her  place  in  the  Girls’  School.  Accord¬ 
ingly,  on  January  31,  1888,  Miss  Emma  F.  Poorbaugh, 
of  Berlin,  Pa.,  sister  of  Miss  Eizzie  R.  Poorbaugh, 


Work  of  Foreign  Missions.  37 

already  in  the  school,  was  appointed.  She  sailed  for 
Japan  in  June  following,  and  reached  her  field  of  labor 

July  9,  1888. 

More  Help  Needed. 

In  due  time,  occupying  the  newly-erected  buildings, 
the  school,  under  the  efficient  and  skillful  care  and  man¬ 
agement  of  the  two  sisters,  aided  by  several  native 
assistant  teachers,  continued  to  flourish  and  produce 
blessed  results  in  winning  the  souls  of  some  of  its 
scholars  to  Christ.  The  labors  of  the  ladies  were  onor- 
ous  and  not  without  injurious  effect  upon  their  health 
and  vigor,  and  it  was  felt  that  a  just  consideration  for 
their  comfort  and  efficiency,  as  also  the  increasing  de¬ 
mands  of  the  school,  called  for  at  least  one  additional 
American  teacher.  The  Board,  in  view  of  this  new 
want,  felt  itself  greatly  embarrassed  in  consequence 
of  the  shortage  in  its  finances.  While  in  this  di¬ 
lemma,  by  the  inspi¬ 
ration  of  a  gracious 
Providence,  the  Wom¬ 
an’s  Missionary  Soci¬ 
ety,  G.  S.,  stepped  for¬ 
ward  and  offered  to 
support  an  additional 
teacher  in  the  Girls’ 

School.  The  Board 
gladly  and  thankfully 
accepted  the  proposi¬ 
tion,  and  an  immediate 
call  for  candidates  for 
appointment  was 
made,  to  which  several 
ladies  responded. 

On  June  3,  1891, 

Miss  Mary  Comfort 
Hollowell,  of  Chatn- 


MISS  MARY  COMFORT  HOLLO  WELL. 


38 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


bersburg,  Pa. ,  was  appointed.  She  had  graduated  from 
the  High  School,  and  subsequently  from  Wilson  Female 
College,  both  of  Chambersburg,  Pa.,  in  which  College 
she  took  a  high  honor.  She  sailed  from  Vancouver,  B. 
C.,  October  25,  1891,  and  landed  at  Yokohama,  Japan, 
November  8,  1891. 

Retirement  of  the  Misses  Poorbaugh. 

The  Board  congratulated  itself  that  now  it  had  a  well- 
equipped  Christian  school,  of  the  grade  of  our  Woman’s 
College,  at  Allentown,  Pa.,  under  the  management  of 
three  ladies  of  earnest  Christian  character,  of  admirable 
qualifications  and  devoted  zeal.  And  it  looked  forth 
with  trustful  expectation  to  its  continued  usefulness 
and  growth.  It  was  therefore  a  matter  of  deep  regret 
when  a  letter,  under  date  of  July  1,  1892,  was  received 
from  Miss  Eizzie  R.  Poorbaugh,  asking  for  herself  and 
sister  a  release  from  further  service  as  missionaries  in 
the  early  future.  Efforts  were  made  to  induce  a  recon¬ 
sideration  of  the  conclusion  they  had  reached,  but  with¬ 
out  success.  Only  then  did  the  Board,  appreciating 
their  laborious,  self-sacrificing  and  eminently  successful 
work,  reluctantly  acquiesce,  directing  that  their  work 
should  close  at  end  of  the  school  year  of  1892-’ 93.  This 
date  was  supposed  to  accord  wdth  the  wishes  of  the 
ladies,  as  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1892  (September 
8)  in  a  letter  Miss  Eizzie  had  inquired  why  the  Board 
could  not  speedily  appoint  their  successor,  and  send  her 
out  in  time  for  them  to  leave  during  the  year  1893. 

This  action  was  taken  in  December,  1892,  and  the 
Board  immediately  put  forth  efforts  to  secure  a  suitable 
lady  to  hasten  to  the  assistance  of  Miss  Hollowell,  at 
the  opening  of  the  term  in  the  fall  of  1893.  These 
efforts  resulted  in  failure.  The  Board  found  itself  in 
a  dilemma.  The  thought  of  throwing  the  burden  of 
the  management  of  the  school  upon  Miss  Hollowell, 


Work  of  Foreign  Missions.  39 

who  was  at  the  time  but  a  fraction  over  one  year  in 
Japan,  could  not  be  entertained.  No  alternative 
seemed  to  be  left  but  to  place  Rev.  Dr.  Moore,  who 
was  at  the  time  on  furlough  in  this  country,  tempor¬ 
arily  at  the  head  of  the  School  as  Principal  with  Mrs. 
Moore  as  Vice-Principal.  This  the  Board  did  with 
great  reluctance,  and  Dr.  Moore  acquiesced  with  equal 
reluctance.  For  it  involved  a  serious  derangement  of 
the  evangelistic  work,  of  which  department  he  was 
the  Principal.  On  their  return  to  Japan,  in  the  sum¬ 
mer  of  1893,  they  entered  upon  their  new  duties  in  the 
Girls’  School,  which  continued  to  move  forward  with 
undiminished  prosperity  during  their  connection  with  it. 

Upon  the  retirement  of  the  Misses  Poorbaugh,  the 
School,  which  previously  had  been  under  the  manage¬ 
ment  and  control  of  its  American  teachers,  was  by 
the  action  of  the  Board  placed  under  the  direct  juris¬ 
diction  of  the  Mission.  Immediately  after  the  assump¬ 
tion  of  the  principalship  by  Rev.  Dr.  Moore,  a  reor¬ 
ganization  of  the  management  of  the  School  was 
effected,  by  which  the  immediate  management  of  the 
school  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  an  Executive  Com¬ 
mittee,  composed  in  part  of  natives,  in  deference  to  the 
wishes  of  the  Japanese,  this  Executive  Committee  to 
be  subject  to  the  orders  and  directions  of  the  Mission. 

Under  the  reorganization,  causes  of  disturbance  which 
had  previously  appeared  among  the  scholars  being  ob¬ 
viated,  the  School  moved  forward  prosperously.  But 
it  was  not  long  before  the  fears  which  had  been  enter¬ 
tained  that  Dr.  Moore’s  assignment  to  duty  in  the  Girls’ 
School  might  work  injuriously  upon  our  general  evan¬ 
gelistic  work  were  found  to  be  well  grounded.  Ac¬ 
cordingly  the  mission  requested  the  Board  to  appoint  a 
new  lady  to  be  associated  with  Miss  Hollowell,  who, 
with  the  aid  of  suitable  native  teachers,  would  furnish 
a  sufficient  teaching  force  for  the  School. 


40 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 

Appointment  of  Miss  Lena  Zurfluh. 


In  response  the  Board  sought  a  suitable  lady,  and 
was  happy  in  finding  her  in  the  person  of  Miss  Lena 

Zurfluh,  of  Toledo, 
Ohio,  who  is  a  gradu¬ 
ate  of  Heidelberg  Uni¬ 
versity,  Tiffin,  Ohio, 
and  had  several  years 
experience  as  a  teacher 
in  the  public  schools 
in  the  city  of  her  resi¬ 
dence. 

Miss  Lena  Zurfluh 
was  appointed  March 
14,  1894.  She  sailed 
from-  San  Francisco, 
Cal.,  August  16,  1894, 
and  landed  at  Yoko¬ 
hama,  Japan,  Septem¬ 
ber  2,  1894.  On  her 
arrival  at  Sendai  she 
entered  upon  the  posi¬ 
tion  vacated  by  Dr. 

Moore.  Since  then, 
under  the  efficient  management  and  instruction  of  the 
two  American  ladies,  aided  by  the  generous  help  of 
Mrs.  S.  S.  Snyder  in  the  department  of  music,  and  sev¬ 
eral  Japanese  assistants,  the  school  has  gone  forward 
during  the  year  1894 — ’95,  with  unabated  prosperity. 
During  this  year  the  number  of  students  reached  57. 
Of  these  41  were  boarders.  Five  of  the  scholars 
graduated  at  the  close  of  the  school  year. 


MISS  LENA  ZURFLUH. 


Support  of  the  Girls’  School  by  the  Woman’s  flissionary 

Society  of  General  Synod. 

After  having  assumed  the  support  of  Miss  Mary  C. 


Work  of  Foreign  Missions.  41 

Hollo  well,  the  members  of  the  Woman’s  Missionary 
Society,  G.  S.,  felt  that  they  were  competent  for  and 
entitled  to  a  larger  share  in  our  Foreign  Missionary 
work.  The  question  whether  they  should  not  assume 
the  entire  support  of  the  Girls’  School  was  raised. 
After  careful  inquiry  as  to  the  feasibility,  and  the 
availability  of  the  necessary  means,  and  the  further 
prayerful  inquiry  as  to  God’s  holy  will  in  the  premises, 
the  resolution  was  solemnly  taken  to  propose  to  the 
Board  that  the  support  in  full  of  the  School  be  com¬ 
mitted  to  their  hands.  The  Board,  glad  to  receive  the 
very  desirable  and  effective  cooperation  of  the  women 
of  our  Church,  most  cordially  accepted  and  approved  the 
proposition.  So  that  now  and  henceforth  our  Sendai 
Girls’  School  will  be  entirely  supported  by  that  Society. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  Tohoku  Gakuin,  so  in  the  Girls’ 
School,  a  number  of  the  scholars  are  supported  as  bene¬ 
ficiaries  by  American  patrons  at  a  cost  of  $60  a  year, 
payable  half-yearly,  in  advance.  There  are  32  thus  sup¬ 
ported,  some  of  whom  graduate  this  summer  (1895.) 

Miss  Misao  Yoshida  and  Miss  Toki  Ishii,  two  of  our 
former  scholars,  are  now  in  the  service  as  Bible 
Women,  the  former  under  the  supervision  of  Mrs.  Hoy, 
the  latter  of  Mrs.  Moore. 

A  most  important  branch  of  instruction  in  the  School 
is  the  training  the  Christian  girls  receive  in  Bible  and 
Sunday-school  work.  The  teachers  are  at  the  head  of 
some  of  these  schools,  going  out  into  the  city  and  sur¬ 
rounding  country  on  Saturday  and  Sunday,  having 
two  or  three  schools  under  their  charge.  Fifteen  of  the 
scholars  are  teachers  in  these  schools.  This  training 
is  proving  productive  of  great  good.  Some  of  the  for¬ 
mer  scholars,  now  in  their  homes,  some  of  them  mar¬ 
ried,  are  acting  the  part  of  Sunday-school  workers, and 
in  an  important  sense,  of  evangelists,  in  winning  their 
kindred  and  acquaintances  to  Christ.  Our  Girls’  School 


42 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


is  a  vastly  important  and  efficient  branch  of  our 
missionary  service. 

Evangelistic  Work. 

To  preach  the  gospel  and  to  win  souls  into  Christ’s 
Kingdom  is  to  do  evangelistic  work.  It  has  come  to 
be  a  settled  conviction  that  to  do  this  work  with  the 
greatest  efficiency,  native  preachers  and  workers  must 
be  called  into  the  service.  To  qualify  native  Christians 
for  this  has  been  the  great  incentive  in  the  establish¬ 
ment  of  Christian  schools.  In  common  with  others, 
our  experience  is  that  these  schools,  both  male  and 
female,  which  are  open  to  non-christians  as  well  as 
Christians,  have  proved  a  most  powerful  agency  in  win¬ 
ning  souls  to  Christ.  A  large  percentage  of  the  non- 
christians  are  either  converted  during  their  school  days 
or  go  forth  so  impressed  by  the  truth  of  Christianity 
as  to  lead  them  subsequently  to  its  acceptance.  The 
report  of  the  Tohoku  Gakuin  for  1894  shows  160  stu¬ 
dents  then  present.  Of  these  105  were  Christians, 
39  seekers  and  16  unbelievers.  Of  these  last,  11  were 
in  the  Preparatory  Department,  indicating  their  recent 
entrance  into  the  School.  Every  year  a  larger  or 
smaller  number  of  the  students  are  baptized.  This  is 
equally  true  of  the  Girls’  School. 

The  male  missionaries  are  no  less  preachers  than 
teachers  in  the  School.  They  go  to  out-stations  more  or 
less  remote  from  Sendai,  or  to  stations  and  congrega¬ 
tions  in  the  city.  They  do  evangelistic  work.  But  to 
Dr.  Moore,  as  Principal  of  the  Evangelistic  Department, 
is  committed  the  general  oversight  of  this  branch  of  the 
service.  He  frequently,  in  company  with  one  or  more 
native  helpers,  makes  tours  of  the  field  embraced  in  our 
work,  preaching,  administering  the  sacraments,  exam¬ 
ining  candidates  for  baptism  and  generally  counselling 
and  advising  the  resident  workers.  The  students  of 


43 


Work  of  Foreign  Missions. 

the  Theological  Department  are  taken  out  by  their  pro¬ 
fessors  and  trained  in  preaching  and  pastoral  work. 

Up  to  the  Summer  of  1894  eight  graduates  had  left 
our  Theological  Department,  and  a  class  of  six;  will 
graduate  the  present  summer  (1895).  This  yearly  in¬ 
crease  of  well-educated  evangelists  is  rapidly  extend¬ 
ing  our  field  of  labor. 

The  statistical  report  of  1893-94  shows  12  organized 
churches,  of  which  five  are  self-supporting  ;  41  preach¬ 
ing  stations;  during  the  year  235  baptisms.  Present 
membership  i960;  Sunday-schools  27,  with  1063 
scholars;  students  in  the  Theological  Department  26; 
native  ministers  9;  unordained  preachers  18;  Bible 
women  5.  All  this,  and  yet  we  have  but  fairly  made 
a  beginning.  Our  first  class  of  trained  evangelists 
graduated  as  late  as  the  summer  of  1893.  From  this 
on  we  expect  a  yearly  increase  in  our  working  force. 

From  this  it  would  appear  that  our  educational 
policy  has  got  into  successful  working  order;  that  we 
are  gradually  emerging  from  a  period  of  restraint,  and 
dare  we  now  doubt  but  that  in  the  future  the  same 
gracious  God  who  has  blessed  and  prospered  us  in  the 
past  will  by  His  Holy  Spirit  incite  the  heart  of  our 
home  Church  to  greater  works  of  love. 

The  Wives  of  the  Missionaries. 

This  exceedingly  brief  and  cursory  sketch  of  our 
evangelistic  work  would  be  injuriously  incomplete  were 
not  note  taken  of  the  very  important  and  valuable  ser¬ 
vices  rendered  by  the  wives  of  our  missionaries.  It  is 
a  matter  of  inestimable  advantage  that  we  have  Chris¬ 
tian  women  connected  with  our  Mission.  In  a  nation 
like  Japan,  where  woman  is  defrauded  of  her  rights  as 
a  moral  and  rational  being,  created  in  the  image  of 
God,  the  simple  presence  of  a  Christian  woman  as  an 
illustration  of  a  womanhood  which  Christianity  alone 


44 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


can  produce,  is  of  itself  invaluable.  She  becomes  an 
object  lesson  and  imparts  instruction  which  far  tran¬ 
scends  in  impressiveness  the  most  learned  precept. 

But  it  is  as  the  light  and  life  of  the  Christian  home 
that  her  transcendent  worth  appears.  As  the  embodi¬ 
ment  of  domestic  life  as  formed  by  Christianity,  the 
Christian  home  is  exerting  a  tremendous  power  for 
good.  It  is  a  lesson  to  which  the  Japanese  cannot 
close  their  eyes.  And  in  the  case  of  our  unmarried 
lady  missionaries,  they  with  wonder  notice  the  intelli¬ 
gence,  the  self-reliant  energy  and  the  executive  skill 
with  which  they  grapple  with  the  problems  of  life. 
Everything  in  this  regard  is  in  the  sharpest  contrast 
with  their  own  life  and  experience. 

The  wives  of  the  missionaries  have  rendered  valuable 
service  in  Sunday-school  work,  visiting  the  sick,  min¬ 
istering  to  the  suffering  and  afflicted  in  hospitals,  meet¬ 
ing  classes  of  women  for  instruction  in  the  arts  of  do¬ 
mestic  life  and  the  principles  and  truths  of  our  holy 
religion,  rescuing  poor  and  homeless  children  and  needy 
suffering  aged  persons,  and  with  great  diligence  and 
efficiency  directing  the  native  women  in  the  various 
branches  of  church  work.  They  together  with  the 
ladies  in  the  Girls’  school,  have  rented  at  their  own 
cost  a  house,  under  the  management  of  a  competent 
native  Christian  matron,  into  which  they  have  received 
a  number  of  infirm  poor  and  several  abandoned  children 
where  they  are  supported  and  taken  care  of.  In  these 
several  ways,  besides  the  direction  of  their  Bible  women 
in  their  pious  work,  the  women  of  our  Mission  are 
rendering  a  most  valuable  and  fruitful  service. 

The  Outlook. 

Instead  of  the  recent  war  with  China  proving  a  hin¬ 
drance  to  our  work,  as  was  at  first  feared,  it  has  in  a 
most  surprising  way  ministered  to  its  advancement.  It 


Work  of  Foreign  Missions. 


45 


served  as  an  occasion  to  call  forth  the  temper  and  spirit 
of  Christianity,  as  also  to  exhibit  by  its  work  and  insti¬ 
tutions  of  charity  and  loving  humanity,  its  divine 
character,  in  such  a  way  that  it  was  to  the  Japanese 
people  in  some  sort  a  revelation,  and  has  won  for  it  a 
toleration  and  respect  that  before  were  denied  it.  In 
commending  itself  to  the  higher  aspirations  and  re¬ 
ligious  instincts  of  the  people,  it  is  achieving  a  conquest 
of  the  heart  in  advance  of  that  of  the  head,  and  is  re¬ 
ceiving  a  homage  from  the  better  feelings  which  the 
critical  reason  is  not  yet  prepared  to  accord. 

There  still,  however,  is  room  for  larger  results  in 
overcoming  that  hostile  anti-foreign  feeling  engendered 
by  the  question  of  treaty  revision  and  the  determined 
assaults  of  the  Buddhists  prior  to  the  war.  A  bitter 
feeling  against  Christianity  had  sprung  up,  and  it  will 
take  time  to  overcome  it,  even  in  the  presence  of  the 
favorable  influences  exerted  by  the  war.  The  hostility 
of  the  educational  department  is  still  very  bitter  and 
has  the  effect  to  diminish  confidence  in  the  Mission 
schools.  This  together  with  the  general  demoralization 
caused  by  the  war  has  caused  a  falling  off  of  students 
in  the  Christian  schools.  Our  Tohoku  Gakuin  has 
felt  the  effects.  Our  number  of  students  during  the 
school  year  just  closed  was  materially  less  than  for 
the  two  years  preceding.  A  person  educated  in  a 
Christian  school,  as  a  matter  of  prejudice,  is  at  a  dis¬ 
advantage  in  business  relations,  and  a  disposition  pre¬ 
vails  to  turn  to  the  native  schools.  The  educational 
department  is  now  one  of  the  bitterest  enemies  Chris¬ 
tianity  has  to  contend  with.  But  the  same  mighty 
power  which  overcame  the  enmity  of  the  mititary  de¬ 
partment  will  in  its  own  good  time  achieve  a  victory 
over  the  -educational.  We  need  but  wait  to  see  the 
deliverance  of  God. 

But  withal  this  the  war  has  opened  a  wider  door  for 


46  Historical  Sketch  of  the 

effective  mission  work  than  existed  immediately  before. 
Meanwhile  our  educational  policy  has  only  reached 
such  a  state  of  productive  efficiency  as  to  enable  us 
to  avail  ourselves,  in  small  measure  of  this  God-sent 
opportunity.  Calls  for  Christian  ministrations  are 
coming  to  our  Mission  beyond  its  ability  to  supply. 
And  the  dilemma  now  is,  not  where  to  find  waiting 
Macedonias,  but  where  to  find  the  messengers  to  send. 
These  messengers  from  year  to  year  are  going  forth 
from  our  schools.  And  when  in  a  few  years  the  fifty 
or  more  young  men  who  are  now  studying  for  the  min¬ 
istry  shall  have  gone  forth  into  the  field,  they  will  but 
prepare  the  way  for  as  many  more,  who,  no  doubt  will 
come  after  them.  Verily  has  God  given  us  as  a  Church 
a  gloriously  productive  field  for  our  spiritual  husbandry. 

But  this  is  not  all.  Many  of  the  students  in  our 
Tohoku  Gakuin  are  not  candidates  for  the  ministry. 
Of  these  a  goodly  percentage  are  not  Christians  when 
they  enter.  But  experience  has  demonstrated  that  but 
few  who  study  there  for  any  considerable  length  of 
time  leave  without  becoming  Christians.  Our  schools 
have  proved  themselves  to  be  most  effective  evangelistic 
agencies.  Thus  are  we  training  an  educated  and  in¬ 
fluential  Christian  laity.  And  these,  like  the  early 
Christians  who  were  dispersed  from  Jerusalem  on  the 
eve  of  its  destruction,  are  scattered  abroad  throughout 
the  Empire,  as  seed-sowers  and  living  epistles  among 
the  people.  Scores  of  Japanese  Christians  trace  their 
interest  in  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  to  the  word 
spoken  and  the  light  diffused  by  some  kindred  or  friend 
or  neighbor. 

And  last,  but  far  from  being  the  least  is  the  work 
done,  and  the  outlook  for  our  Girls’  School.  This  is 
our  main  reliance  for  the  establishment  of  the  Christian 
Home  in  Japan.  Without  this  Japan  cannot  be  Chris¬ 
tianized.  With  degraded,  down-trodden,  misguided 


Work  of  Foreign  Missions. 


47 


mothers,  what  must  the  children  be  ?  Nearly  all  the 
girls  who  take  a  course  in  our  school  leave  it  as  Chris¬ 
tians.  They  become  the  light  and  life  of  Christian 
homes.  And  even  those,  or  at  least  some  of  them, 
who  by  the  constraint  of  their  parents  are  married  into 
unbelieving  families,  become  as  leaven,  and  by  their 
lives  silently  preach  the  word  of  everlasting  truth. 

Our  school  is  full.  We  have  between  50  and  60 
scholars,  which  number  cannot  be  much  exceeded  until 
larger  room  is  provided.  With  this  at  hand,  a  larger 
number,  no  doubt,  could  be  gathered  in. 

Oh,  it  is  a  blessed  thought  for  those  who  are  working 
and  contributing  to  Foreign  Missions  that  one  day, 
over  there  in  the  Heavenly  World,  we  will  meet 
redeemed  Japanese  souls,  for  whose  rescue  we,  while 
on  earth,  did  what  we  could. 

Incorporation  of  the  Board. 

The  Board  was  incorporated  by  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  of  Dauphin  county,  Pa.,  April  25,  1881,  with  the 
corporate  title  of  “  The  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions  of  ihe  Reformed  Church  in  the  United 
States .” 

The  names  of  the  commissioners  then  incorporated 
were  as  follows  : 

Rev.  David  Van  Horne,  D.  D.,  Rev.  C.  H.  Eeinbach, 
D.  D.,  Rev.  T.  S.  Johnston,  D.  D.,  Rev.  C.  Z.  Weiser, 
D.  D.,  Rev.  B.  Bausman,  D.  D.,  Rev.  J.  H.  A.  Bom- 
berger,  D.  D.,  Rev.  N.  Gehr,  D.  D.,  Rev.  J.  Santee, 
D.  D. ;  Elders  R.  F.  Kelker,  W.  H.  Seibert,  G.  S.  Grif¬ 
fith  and  George  Gelbach. 

Members  of  the  Board  in  1895. 

Rev.  James  I.  Good,  D.  D.,  Rev.  J.  H.  Prugh,  D.  D., 
Rev.  J.  S.  Kieffer,  D.  D.,  Rev.  J.  Dahlmann,  D.  D.,  Rev. 
C.  R.  Dieffenbacher,  D.  D.,  Rev.  P.  Greding,  D.  D.,  Rev. 


48 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 

A.  R.  Bartholomew,  Rev.  S.  N.  Callender,  D.  D.,  Elders 
Benjamin  Kuhns,  Joseph  K.  Eemberger,  J.  Y.  Dietz, 
and  J.  Z.  Gerhard,  M.  D. 

Executive  Committee :  Rev.  James  I.  Good,  D.  D., 
Rev.  J.  H.  Prugh,  D.  D.,  Rev.  S.  N.  Callender,  D.  D., 
Rev.  A.  R.  Bartholomew  ;  Elders  Joseph  E.  Eemberger 
and  J.  Z.  Gerhard,  M.  D. 

Officers  of  the  Board:  Rev.  James  I.  Good,  D.  D., 
President;  Rev.  J.  H.  Prugh,  D.  D.,  Vice-President; 
Rev.  S.  N.  Callender,  D.  D.,  Secretary;  Elder  Joseph 
E.  Eemberger,  Ph.  M.,  Treasurer. 

Legacies. 

All  legacies  to  the  Board  should  be  in  the  following 
form  : 

“I  give,  devise  and  bequeath  to  The  Board  of  Com- 
missioners  for  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Reformed  Church 

in  the  United  States ,  the  sum  of . . . 

Dollars.” 

Note. — If  the  bequest  is  real  estate,  let  the  property  be  care¬ 
fully  described.  In  every  case  let  the  will  be  made  at  least 
thirty  days  before  death,  and  witnessed  by  two  subscribers, 
according  to  law.  If  the  bequest  is  made  less  than  thirty  days 
before  the  death  of  the  testator,  according  to  the  laws  of  Penn¬ 
sylvania,  it  is  void  and  of  no  effect.  Kspecial  care  should  be 
taken  to  have  the  corporate  title  of  the  Board,  precisely  as  above. 


